Half-awake, I manage to grab my phone and put off the alarm. No, fifteen minutes more and I promise I am out of this bed.

Minna Atsumare! Ooyyy! Onara Taisou!

I heard Nodame singing again. My tired eyes are begging for another ten minutes or more, but my mind is telling me that I should throw off that blanket and be awake or else I will find myself running on the sidewalks of Paseo to avoid being late from work.

This is the second day of me wanting my eyes closed beyond sleeping hours. The first day’s reason of lack of sleep, should I blame my mother who is just doing her task of grinding whole peppercorns using mortar and pestle early in the morning near my room or should I blame the mortar and pestle instead for being such a handy kitchen tool to my mother? Sigh. While last night, my friend needed me, so we stayed some place up until midnight and I listened to her stories and shared some of mine.

Going to work, I listen to the Morning Rush — as usual, it’s a hard habit to break, lalala-lala — to laugh and to keep the driver from saying to me, “Miss, wake up, wake up, san ba kayo? Bwendja na to.”

I am the first to be inside the van. I am on earphones listening to some music while waiting for other passengers. There comes, let’s call him, scaredkuya, who sits beside me. At that same moment, I heard the cue for The Top Ten. Chico is now saying what the topic for that day’s Top Ten is, which is, The Top Ten Signs that You are a Spoiled Brat. Particularly, Delamar’s stories of Chico being a spoiled brat after the bottom half — of course, Chico’s in denial — make me titter.

Here is one of them, as far as I can recall:

C: It’s hot, hot, hot.

D: Let’s stay under that tree for a while to get shade.

C: What if there are critters there? (Looking scared)

D:(Shocked but managed to say) To that other tree then.

C: What if there is a rac-cooonnn there? Oh, Del, Del, is that an otter I see in the pond? (LOL)

Scaredkuya had a conclusion that his seatmate is dotty and crazy and then opted transferring on the side seat, near the door. At first, I thought that he just suddenly realized that he will get off Arnaiz, not Ayala and it will be difficult for him to get out when he is seated next to me — I am sitting behind the driver, four seats away from the door. But no, he just didn’t want to be beside a mad woman I turned out to be. I was prejudged. Huhuhu.

New York, NY – Multi-platinum Epic recording artist, Incubus, is gearing up to release MONUMENTS AND MELODIES, a two disc collection of the band’s greatest hits and rarities, on June 16. The collection is a must have for fans of the band whose extraordinary career has spanned over a decade, has spawned twelve Top 10 hits – four of those landing at # 1, and six studio albums, the last being Light Grenades which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200, marking the highest charting album debut of the band’s career.

To celebrate the release of MONUMENTS AND MELODIES, Incubus is offering fans the opportunity to pre-order the album from http://incubus.skyroo.com. The album pre-order automatically enters fans into an exclusive Internet pre-sale where they will be amongst the first to purchase tickets to an upcoming show on the band’s highly anticipated Monuments and Melodies Summer Tour. The tour will officially kick off July 9th at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in San Diego, CA and will cover 31 major cities across the U.S. and Canada, including dates at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and two nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The two disc collection will be released in two configurations, a two disc CD, and a four disc LP. The first disc includes the band’s biggest hits including twelve Top 10 singles such as “Drive,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Pardon Me”, as well as two brand new tracks, “Black Heart Inertia” and “Midnight Swim” (both produced by Brendan O’Brien). The second disc consists of rarities that the band has recorded over the years, including a brand new cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” Album artwork for MONUMENTS AND MELODIES was designed by lead singer, Brandon Boyd.

Adding to the rarities on the physical release, Incubus will launch the most comprehensive collection of Incubus audio, video, and photos in a new section of www.enjoyincubus.com called The Vault. Many of these items have never been seen or were released in limited editions. Each individual copy of the physical album will include a unique code that can be used to upgrade the users account at www.enjoyincubus.com and allow them to download all of this incredible Incubus material.

Following in the footsteps of the incredible radio story for the band’s single, “Love Hurts”, which went to # 1 at alternative radio and will impact Adult Top 40 on March 17, Incubus will release “Black Heart Inertia”, the first new single from MONUMENTS AND MELODIES, on April 16. Fans can log onto the band’s website to stream a 45-second sample of the track.

Brandon Boyd, Michael Einziger and Jose Pasillas II formed Incubus in 1991 when they were high school classmates in Calabasas, CA. Chris Kilmore joined in 1998 and Ben Kenney in 2003. The band’s big break came in 1999 with the release of the double-platinum selling album, Make Yourself, which included the singles: “Pardon Me,” “Stellar,” and “Drive”. The group’s third album, Morning View, released in 2001, debuted at number two on the album chart and included the radio hits “Wish You Were Here,” and “Nice To Know You.” The most recent release from Incubus, Light Grenades, blazed onto Billboard’s Top 200 in 2006, debuting at #1.

You can catch Incubus playing some of the biggest hits of their career on the MONUMENTS AND MELODIES tour. Album track listing and tour dates are below.